that was pretty interesting. I felt much like this while performing with my little setup (Monomachine, ESX, Acidlab Bassline 1, Kaoss Pad 3, 2 boss pedals and a mixer). my liveset was well rehearsed, and I made sure I was in total control but at the same time kept my hands busy to make sure people could see it was a true live show and not some playback. I was frantic for the whole 35 minutes, doing stuff all the time. And still, some guy in the audience walked right up to me (during "Arktik Dub") telling me I was doing a "good DJ-set, how do you do that without a computer? and is that Boards of Canada you're playing right now?".. needless to say, most people would even notice if all I brought was my MP3-player and the mixer...

sure, visuals can spice things up, but if I'm playing live, I'd want people to believe I'm playing live, and not just playback of a long MP3.

oh, but using actual hardware is still better than a laptop. next purchase: a nice Keytar (with KNOBS!) and a really, really cheap second midi keyboard that I can play occationally to make it look more live.. maybe a drummer? hm...

There are always going to be people that don't know the difference between what's basically DJ'ing/mixing/starting an MP3 and a real Live performance no different than playing guitar or keyboards, and in fact more complicated since you're controlling several instruments at the same time.

My favorite performances have to be freestyle (eg, start with no patterns, nothing is presequenced, and go from there). Very hard to do, but nothing replaces the feeling you get from that unknown journey.

adamitron wrote:i sometimes dream of cloning my esx so i can have a crossfader in between them and set up the next pattern while i'm doing some mild tweaks on the other, and just keep bouncing them back and forth.

That sounds like an awesome idea. If I ever do get another ESX, I would love to have them hooked up that way

It's not quite the same, but (at least on the eMx) you know you can tweak a saved pattern, then press shift and i think it's the pattern menu button (says "compare" above it) to switch between the tweaks and the original saved pattern? I assume you probably do, and this information is elsewhere on here no doubt, but i thought it may be relevant here.

adamitron wrote:i sometimes dream of cloning my esx so i can have a crossfader in between them and set up the next pattern while i'm doing some mild tweaks on the other, and just keep bouncing them back and forth.

If you have a sampler in your setup you can do the next best thing. I use my KP3 to sample 2-4 bars of one loop from my EMX, kill the Electribe's master volume, then fade in the next loop while the sample plays. As long as you don't let the sample run till the timing gets off (as can happen with the KP3) it's a good way to emulate a DJ performance with your own tracks.

adamitron wrote:i sometimes dream of cloning my esx so i can have a crossfader in between them and set up the next pattern while i'm doing some mild tweaks on the other, and just keep bouncing them back and forth.

My mate Drone 375 uses his 2 EMX's just as you would 2 decks and a 2 channel mixer between. He usually writes patterns on both boxes at the same time so that his transitions are smooth and logical. The mixer between them adds alot of dynamism... being able to control EQ of either EMX ,being able to fade between the two, part muting, effect tweaking, part parameter tweaking, pattern changing = FAR more control than any DJ could have when mixing (without software, heavily mapped controller and pre-processed tracks/sample/cue-points/effects etc)

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I've been experimenting with making transition tracks to blend one song to the next. I keep the rhythm from the former, and some of the synth parts, then add synth lines from the next track. I played this way a few days ago for the first time and it worked out well.

What I used to do was put a KP3 on send mode and either sample or slapback delay the end and make a big swirling mess, then bring the next track in through the fog. With the top approach, though, I don't have to bring the extra gear.